I’m about to drink and I suggest to anyone who wants to join me, the two recipes for classic cocktails made from gin that I posted a while back, this British spirit par excellence. First, a little small talk and stories. If you're dying of thirst, see my previous posts and you’ll find the recipes.

Despite being considered today an English institution, the gin was born sometime in the 14th century, in the Netherlands. The base is made  of juniper, there it was used as a tonic against the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe. Its Flemish cousin, sweeter and liqueurs, still survives, known as "Geneva", where did the nickname "gin" which gave the English during the reign of William 3, when the Netherlands and Britain found themselves temporarily unified.

During the 18th century, gin had become the most consumed beverage in England, especially the lower classes-adult and child at a time when that was not considered banning the sale of alcohol to under 18 years (which attest several illustrations of the time). It was produced without any health regulations in backyard distillery and became an epidemic known as "Gin Craze" (or "madness of gin"). It became public enemy number one, called "Madame Geneva", and was fought public campaigns similar to those now used against drugs. Of course it did not work. The solution was to create standards to legalize the distilleries.

The image of gin began to be rehabilitated from 1890, when farmers began selling bottled the drink directly to consumers. And in the 19th century, its reputation has only grown, with the expansion of the British Empire, to become, say, the chest-heats favorite late Queen Mother, grandmother of William, Prince recently married.

It was during the domination of India, which emerged gin and tonic (or "gin and tonic," as the Anglophones), a drink that mixes with water juniper brandy of quinine, two elixirs that have a medical background. The first, as we have seen, against the "Black Death", the second, "imported" from Peru, malaria.

Gin is also the basis of another classic cocktail (perhaps the most classic and controversial of all), the dry martini. Some scholars say that its origins date back to the Civil War (1861-1865), once had at the time, a drink known as "martinez". The spelling "martini" first appeared in the 1888 edition of the famous cocktails guide Harry Johnson, though with a different recipe from the one used today.

Anyway, the name of the drink seems to precede by at least a decade, the emergence of white vermouth Martini, just hit the market in 1900 in his version "extra dry", which some say would have taken up the popularity of the cocktail and not otherwise, as normally assumed.

The truth is that every bartender has a different recipe dry martini, and each one will try to convince those who are on this side of the bar that his is the most traditional, old or more correctly the proportion of vermouth to gin. There is a drink that attracts as much controversy around it, and just take a first martini for the first time in my life, so that the person already feels a knowledgeable and go out the opinions.

Hit theaters this week the Brazilian film "With renewed Happiness" ("Rabbit Hole" John Cameron Mitchell, 2010), produced by actress Nicole Kidman and for which she was nominated for an Oscar for best actress this year.

Faced with an overwhelming loss, such as the death of a child, that repair is possible? How to get on with life and mend the family routine? To reinvest in affection?

Based on a play of the same name, the film does not bring answers to these questions very difficult. But it is honest to show the hard daily life of a couple, in their attempt to save their relationship and continue life in the midst of emotional debris.

Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are Becca and Howie. Eight months ago, Danny died, his only son, four years. Each lives in his own way to mourn the death of the child and the couple put their differences at constant friction.

Becca wonders if it would be better as an attempt to move forward, get rid of the pet dog that belonged to his son, take the pictures pasted on the refrigerator door and move house.

Attached to each trace of the child left the house, Howie does not support the idea of moving, constantly watching the video that guard Danny on the phone, and attends a support group that Becca left, fed up with the bigotry of other members.

Kidman and Eckhart are well contained in their roles, and can rightly stay away from the washed-out tearjerker. The direction of Mitchell ("Hedwig - Rock, Love and Betrayal") is not surprising, but it is effective, and even capable of some moments of levity and humor in the midst of so much suffering.

The counterpoint to the rest of the cast is essential to create a necessary distance from the couple's drama. Stand out Dianne Wiest, as the mother of Becca, perfectly paired with Kidman, and Tammy Blanchard as Izzy, the nutty sister.

"With renewed Happiness" is a sensible film about loss and overcoming, preaching good values and works almost like a survival guide to personal tragedies. And in that Kidman's character gives a lesson. It does not always hit, but it is always sincere in their attempts.

The film is about loss and suffering, but his main thinking is about love and forgiveness: The importance of preserving the affections, even those who are no longer present, and the importance of forgiveness as a way to get rid of the past and move on.

The movie actually does not promise happiness of the reunion. Only teaches that, in moments of extreme pain, all you can do is live one day at a time.

Or, as one of the famous quotes and sayings about the subject says:
     
“One day at a time--this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering.”